I've been trying my friends Wintec Isabelle Dressage Saddle. I know it fits Rosie better than my Wintec All Purpose.
This means doing lots of free walk and stretchy trot building her top line. Today was ride 5 in the saddle - still feel like my legs disconnected and find my knees coming a bit to far forward but is better than rides 1 and 2. It could be muscle memory needs to be re-trained, or it could be the saddle doesn't fit me just right. I'll keep riding in it until I get a saddle fitter to come out. My budget is saying end of May.
I found myself holding my breath when I went to ask for canter today - so I stopped all forward movement and breathed. Walked on - breathed. Trot - breathed in rhythm - sitting trot - still breathing. Closed my eyes , put my leg on to queue canter and away we went !
I want to do some road riding soon so Jim has agreed to walk with me the first few times. Today was day one, and listening to my mare - we got the end of the driveway when she told me in no uncertain terms that she was scared. Nothing like feeling 2000 pounds of horse go absolutely tense under you. So we just stood at the end of the drive way. I wouldn't allow her to "leave" and when she got fidgety I just circled or did mini figures always ending where we started and facing the road. To be clear - at no point was she refusing to go anywhere I pointed, but she sure as heck wasn't anywhere near relaxed which is what I want. When I was ready to go back to the barn she walked back on loose rein.
Hooray for the canter depart. It sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking if your knees (and lower leg?) are moving forward the pommel might be sitting too high. That used to happen to me with a saddle I had a long time ago. Do you find yourself naturally/comfortably able to sit with a line running from your shoulder, through your hip and heel - with the line running perpendicular to the ground?
Sounds like a good plan. Don't rush either yourself or your horse. Take it at a pace that's comfortable for both of you.
ReplyDeleteDan
Ah, the ever elusive saddle - why is that?! Glad you had a good first road ride. It's not how far you rode, it's that you were successful while you rode.
ReplyDeleteyour title says it all.
ReplyDeleteI really like how attuned you are, not only to your horse, but to your own self, too. Nicely done.
ReplyDelete~Lisa